18-month-old becomes Mumbai's first swine flu casualty in two years

The virus hasn’t been active in the city though it has claimed 165 lives in rest of the state since January 1, 2017. “While the state has registered 844 positive cases in this period, Mumbai hasn’t seen many cases,’’ confirmed Dr Pradeep Awate of the state health department’s epidemiological cell.Malathy Iyer | TNN | May 03, 2017, 10:41 IST

Highlights

A senior civic hospital doctor said that many in the 21 patients diagnosed with H1N1 flu in Mumbai were in the pediatric age group.,

Swine flu is a respiratory virus that was previously found in pigs. Over time, the virus mutated and infected humans.,

MUMBAI: An 18-month-old boy became the first casualty of the H1N1 virus, previously known as swine flu, in the city in the last two years.

The virus hasn’t been active in the city though it has claimed 165 lives in rest of the state since January 1, 2017. “While the state has registered 844 positive cases in this period, Mumbai hasn’t seen many cases,’’ confirmed Dr Pradeep Awate of the state health department’s epidemiological cell. BMC confirmed that only 21 cases have been reported in the city since January 1.

BMC officials said that the 18-month-old passed away due to complications of an H1N1 infection at the Kasturba Hospital, near Saat Raasta, on Saturday. He had diarrhea, vomiting and fever. “These generic symptoms prevented an early diagnosis of the flu,” said a senior BMC official. The child was admitted to two hospitals before he was transferred to the BMC-run Kasturba Hospital in a severe condition. “He was a ventilator by the time he was brought to Kasturba Hospital,’’ said a doctor.

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